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The 2025 Swimathon Soroptimists Team We swam in the Swimathon in Kendal  raising funds for ShelterBox. We  had fun and achieved 168 lengths  swimming in a relay for 55 minutes, raising £795 which with Gift Aid will exceed £830. This was the most lengths we have ever achieved greatly helped by Sarah swimming  alongside us and doubling our efforts! Afterwards we enjoyed a delicious meal at the home of Club member Sheila. ShelterBox provides vital tools and shelter for families in disaster areas worldwide. Women and children are disproprtionately affected by disasters and we therefore like to support ShelterBox every year. ShelterBox are heavily involved in Gaza and their stocks are very depleted so our donation will help to support families. Club members have swum in the Swimathon  for 39 years and raised funds for ShelterBox sice 2009. If you want to find out more
Soroptimists take the plunge for ShelterBox 15 March

Soroptimists take the plunge for ShelterBox 15 March

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Grange Soroptimist’s team  are taking the plunge and  swimming in the Kendal  Swimathon on March 15th, and once again are raising funds for ShelterBox.  ShelterBox provide family tents and other life sustaining equipment for displaced  victims of disasters or war. Soroptimists work to improve the lives of women and girls worldwide so we are delighted to support ShelterBox as women and children are disproportionately affected by disasters. We have been raising funds for ShelterBox  by swimming  in the Swimathon  every year since 2009 and have raised enough for 18 ShelterBoxes, which currently cost £590. Please help us to continue to help those most in need. Any donation would be most welcome and you can contact us through this Website or donate direct via our Swimathon  for ShelterBox  Just Giving page Images are photographs of the 2 latest Beyond the Box magazines.
Zoom with our Friendship link Club in Prague

Zoom with our Friendship link Club in Prague

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Meeting up with our Soroptimist sisters SI rague On 15th January we had a Zoom meet up with our Soroptimist sisters in Prague ( SI Praha)  We shared ideas and the projects both clubs are working on and there was a great similarity with a lot of work going on helping victims of domestic abuse. It was sobering for SI Grange to realise the anxiety felt by SI Prague members with the situation in Europe.  It was however very cheerful reminisvcing about Alice and Janna's  visit to the UK for our Platinum celebrations!
Soroptimists talking Pants

Soroptimists talking Pants

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We are delighted to anounce our knicker tree resulted in over 1,500 pairs of pants despatched to Smalls for All. Local people , local schools and Soroptimist members generously donated new pants and these have been distributed to multiple organisations both abroad  and in the UK. Since our donation in early November Smalls for All  have sent out 638 pairs of pants to The West Lothian Financial Inclusion Network for families in need in West Lothian. 285 pairs of pants to the NNLS Destitute Asylum Seekers Drop In, an organisation based in London. 98 pairs of pants to Refugees Welcome Crawley. 300 pairs of pants to Days for Girls Ealing for including in their hygiene kits going to Africa. 1,800 pairs of pants and bras to the AMUKA foundation, an organisation working with the remote villages of Karare, Marsabit County in Kenya. 191 pairs of
Grange Soroptimists Write for Rights 2024

Grange Soroptimists Write for Rights 2024

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Members wrote in support of the Write for Rights campaign run by Amnesty International, writing letters of solidarity to victims of Human Rights abuses and letters to officials appealing for action. About 60 letters / E mails/ Tweets/ Facebook posts were sent off / posted on social media in December to coincide with Human Rights Day. Human Rights Day is observed every year on 10 December — the day the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It  is a milestone document that proclaims the inalienable rights which everyone is entitled to as a human being - regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. 10 December is an opportunity to reaffirm the importance of human rights in re-building the world we want, the need for global
Creative Christmas Flower Demonstration by Joan Bentley 1st December

Creative Christmas Flower Demonstration by Joan Bentley 1st December

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60 members and guests enjoyed a Creative Christmas Flower Demonstration by Joan Bentley. Joan was entertaining, very creative and we all learnt something. A delicious afternoon tea with homemade cakes rounded off the afternoon when there was also a very popular raffle of the Flower arrangements including a special Orange the World one  to coincide with the 16 Days of Activism. £425 was raised for our Christmas hampers for the Women's Centre.
How did Grange Soroptimists help families at Christmas?

How did Grange Soroptimists help families at Christmas?

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Club members donated hundreds of pounds worth  of food and 6 members packed 48 hampers for families attending BarrowWomen's Centre Several members cobvered the boxes beforehand and the hampers looked lovely. Pupils of Kirkbie Kendal school  generously donated many boxesoffood and toiletries. If you are interested in finding out more about our Club or would likew to join please CONTACT US
Soroptimists say NO to Violence against Women – Orange the World Nov 25th

Soroptimists say NO to Violence against Women – Orange the World Nov 25th

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Orange the World at Cartmel Priory Grange Soroptimists marked International Day for Elimination of Violence against Women by tying ribbons on the gates of Cartmel Priory with each ribbon representing a donation to Women’s Aid, a charity working to prevent Domestic Violence and support victims. Its not too late to get a ribbon tied on. Just go to our Just Giving page. They were joined by Rev Nick Devenish,  pupils from Cartmel Priory School, members of the public and  other Soroptimists from the North West including Regional President Val Moss. There are 16 Days of Activism organised by the United Nations with buildings all over the world lit up in Orange  in solidarity with the campaign. In South Cumbria Cartmel Priory and Barrow Town Hall will be lit for the 16 days and the Hoad in Ulverston only 25th Nov and 10th Dec. We continued
Grange Soroptimists at SIGBI Conference in Edinburgh Nov 1-3

Grange Soroptimists at SIGBI Conference in Edinburgh Nov 1-3

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Seven members travelled to Edinburgh for the 3 day Soroptimist Conference and enjoyed interesting presentations on Soroptimist projects but the highlight was Baroness Floella Benjamin speaking. She talked about her life growing up in Trinidad, racial discrimination in Britain,her amazing career  all interspersed with song and charisma. Her message to girls in particyular was the combination of Consideration, Contentment, Confidence wrapped up in Courage. Baroness Floella Benjamin wows her audience There was time for networking with other members over coffee and wine including Leah Stewart-Rivas  of SI Esperance in Trinidad. We also handed over  some of the knickers  we collected for  Smalls for All  with our knicker tree! Outside the Conference we enjoyed fun and friendship over meals including The Dome and also visited the "Women in Revolt "  exhibition at the Edinburgh Modern Art Gallery, which was very pertinent to Soroptimist highlighting the issues
How did Grange Soroptimists celebrate their Platinum Anniversary October 2024?

How did Grange Soroptimists celebrate their Platinum Anniversary October 2024?

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SIGBI President Ruth Healey lighting the candle for Soroptimist International Great Britain and Ireland October has seen lots of celebrations of our Platinum Anniversary with P for Party with Personality featuring this month. At the Club meeting we had a "Fifties Food and Fashion"  evening as our club was founded in 1954. On October 19th we had a delicious  Charter lunch at Holker Hall  where we were welcomed by Lady Cavendish and enjoyed the company of other Soroptimists, Alice and Janna  from Prague,   Soroptimists from NW Region, our previous Club members and Ruth Healey SIGBI President. Maria Benjamin a local business woman and farmer  gave us a very inspiring  insight into her work on a farm diversifying making soap and Lake District Tweed, helping her local community and  helping women in Nepal develop their soap business. Sarah French Editor of Cumbria Life was on hand